Starmer resets post-Brexit relationship at European summit with focus on border security and migration - live

Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to “fire the starting gun” on Britain’s “new approach to Europe ” as he hosts a summit with continental leaders, a day after setting out his government’s agenda in the King’s Speech .

The prime minister will use the 47-member European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace , the birthplace of Winston Churchill, to push for action to secure the continent’s borders, as he steps up efforts to tackle the UK’s asylum backlog.

More than 100 Home Office staff will be redeployed from working on the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme to focus on a “rapid returns unit” to send people with no right to be in the UK back to their home country, with the PM calling for continent-wide action to tackle international “people-smuggling webs”.

Sir Keir, whose Labour government is seeking a security pact with the EU, said: “We will only be able to secure our borders, drive economic growth and defend our democracies if we work together.”

The leaders will also attend a reception hosted by King Charles in the palace’s Long Library.